Edited by Nadine Barth, Katharina Mouratidi. Text by Nadine Barth.
Whether candid or posed, in black and white or color, Orkin’s photographs of women reveal her consistently sympathetic eye
In 1951, her photograph American Girl in Italy—depicting a young woman on a street flanked by whistling men—made Ruth Orkin (1921–85) a household name. Now, a new facet of her work emerges through sensational never-before-seen negatives and slides. Women illustrates Orkin’s devoted, humorous, witty and sensitive documentation of women’s life in the 1940s and 1950s. She records the illustrious goings-on in beauty salons and at cocktail parties, at dog shows and on Hollywood sets. We meet Lauren Bacall, Jane Russell, Joan Taylor and Doris Day, but also waitresses, stewardesses, female soldiers and best friends. Whether gazing directly into the camera, looking away from it or even laughing at something outside of the frame, Orkin’s snapshots of women reflect their increased career mobility, consumer power and social influence in the postwar era.
"El Al Airline Stewardess, Tel Aviv, Israel" (1951) is from 'Ruth Orkin: Women.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Air Mail
Elena Clavarino
In this book, the images span Orkin’s entire career. What emerges is a woman of uncompromising style.
The New York Times: Arts
Erica Ackerberg
A posthumous release from the famed photographer Ruth Orkin casts a female gaze on subjects both ordinary and iconic.
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Featured photograph, of a 1950s mother and daughter, city unknown, is from Ruth Orkin: Women, a book that celebrates not only the work of one of the great midcentury female fashion and photo journalists, but women themselves. There’s something very different, independent and special about the way Orkin relates to her subjects, and the way that they respond to her lens. “Do women see differently than men?” she asks. “Of course we do, because we’re different people. Everybody sees differently from everybody else. Partly it’s because you’re tall or short, or because you’re a minority or a non-minority … all the things that make up a person make their view of the world, and part of your person is your sex.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 10.5 x 10.5 in. / 144 pgs / 38 color / 73 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $50.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $72 ISBN: 9783775756853 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 2/20/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: Out of stock TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited by Nadine Barth, Katharina Mouratidi. Text by Nadine Barth.
Whether candid or posed, in black and white or color, Orkin’s photographs of women reveal her consistently sympathetic eye
In 1951, her photograph American Girl in Italy—depicting a young woman on a street flanked by whistling men—made Ruth Orkin (1921–85) a household name. Now, a new facet of her work emerges through sensational never-before-seen negatives and slides. Women illustrates Orkin’s devoted, humorous, witty and sensitive documentation of women’s life in the 1940s and 1950s. She records the illustrious goings-on in beauty salons and at cocktail parties, at dog shows and on Hollywood sets. We meet Lauren Bacall, Jane Russell, Joan Taylor and Doris Day, but also waitresses, stewardesses, female soldiers and best friends. Whether gazing directly into the camera, looking away from it or even laughing at something outside of the frame, Orkin’s snapshots of women reflect their increased career mobility, consumer power and social influence in the postwar era.
